United Methodist Men, here's your chance to get together in a joyful and positive way. At 9AM this Saturday January 19th, your're invited to a "separate checks" breakfast at Tom's Place on Main Street in Meriden. The order of the day: good food, good fellowship, some prayers, and a discussion of what it means to be Christian men. Feel free to invite men who might be interested in men's church fellowship. Our hope is to make this a monthly event at various places that is fun, fulfilling, and filled with the power of being God's church. Get ready to order up!

It is with heavy and loving hearts that we announce the passing of retired Reverend Susan Colby DeSousa into God's eternal kingdom on Christmas Eve. Susan was formerly a Pastor of South Meriden Trinity United Methodist Church. She passed at the age of 75, having lived most recently in New Milford, CT.

Christmas is our time of rejoicing, which we use today to remind ourselves that all rejoicing comes to a final rejoicing, and that we can be grateful for all of the servants of God who teach us how to rejoice. Susan was certainly among them. Please pray for Susan's family, in gratitude for her service, offered to us in love. We will post additional details as we receive them.

Pastor John will organize these prayer walks, which take off from the church sanctuary steps at noon on Mondays, as weather and appointments permit. Pastor John has been continuing prayer walks already, and invites everyone to join us in them. After our prayer walks, you are invited to join us in the Clark Room for a brown bag luncheon and discussions, using our holy conversation guidelines to make them safe and fruitful.

​A menu option on our office telephone menu will give you the latest status on prayer walks. We look forward to you joining us - and to inviting others into them!

We have people interested in becoming new members of our church - as well as current members who need to be ready to walk alongside new members in renewed United Methodist discipleship.​Everyone, including long-time members and youths, are encouraged to attend three sessions in January that will explore three key topics that are essential for success in church membership:

What does it mean to be a Methodist Christian?

What does is mean to be a United Methodist?

What does mean to be a member of a United Methodist Local Church?

A schedule for signup will be available in our sanctuary through December. There will be multiple time slots available, and you are free to "mix and match" time slots that work best for your schedule.

Each session will be about two hours in length, ending with a church-wide weekend mission project in our community at the end of our class time in late January or early February. Later in February, we will welcome those wishing to become new members of the church at a Sunday worship service.

To help both existing and new members to become more effective together in Christian ministry and discipleship, EVERY church member and church friend is encouraged to attend these sessions.

As we get ready for a year of becoming a church that invites us and our community into God's possibilities, January will be the time for us to remember how to invite those possibilities as a Methodist Christian community - and to welcome new people into the church who can join us in inviting those possibilities. We are already in a new year of Christian faith - let's get ready to open the gifts of faith in fresh new ways!

This Advent, the beginning of our new Christian year, we have an opportunity to reflect, to refresh, to restore, and to rejoice, through the gifts that faith offers us, as we prepare for the coming of the Christ child, Jesus, into our hears and God's world on Christmas. Then, in Christmastide, we celebrate the beginning of our journey in faith that our gifts prepare us for, as we travel, with the "wise men" visiting Jesus, closer to accepting Jesus as the One who God points us towards in faith.

Each Sunday during Advent, worshipers will receive a faith gift in a travel bag, which you will be able to use in your own travels in the months and years ahead,.for your travel items, and as a reminder of where your faith is bringing you this year. The gifts will include prayerful reminders of how we can continue to open our gifts of faith throughout the new year, as we journey in Christian discipleship together.

We hope that you will find this to be a heart-warming and exciting time to be in our church, and to open up to God's possibilities in faith. Please remember your invitation cards, and invite others to join you, and us, on your journey of faith!

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

The doorways of our education building are decorated joyfully by the staff and children of StarCubs Daycare, reminding us how the simple things bring us thanks for the joy of Thanksgiving. That is all we have to do this Thanksgiving holiday and weekend - give thanks in all circumstances. Our lives are a gift from God, and we can always be thankful for the God who loved us enough to give us life, and to live on this earth for us as Jesus Christ. To give thanks is God's will for us!

May your Thanksgiving celebrations and travels on Thursday - and beyond - be filled with blessings, covered in safety, and touched in God's Spirit with grace and peace!

We have hundreds of new subscribers to our newsletter lately, along with long-time members and friends. We'd appreciate it if you all could provide us in the form below with an update on your interests, your needs, and your best methods of contact. Provide just the information that you feel comfortable sharing, and know that we guard this information securely and carefully. Thank you very much for your interest in our ministries and our messages!

While our office has for many years sent out birthday and anniversary cards to our members, Jeanne King came up with the idea of making this ministry a group ministry for all of our interested members to join. As you can see in the photo, we had a GREAT turnout for the first card-writing get-together this Monday, as members caught up with August anniversaries and birthdays, and got ahead of the curve for September birthdays.

We thank Jeanne and every one who turned out for this joyful celebration of our love for our community in Christ, and we thank Charlene Bodero and Emily Belanger, who continue to support our members and church friends who are ill and who have lost loved ones recently. We are a loving, sharing and caring church, and we are so grateful for members who "walk the talk" of faith. Watch our announcements for the next "write'in" event!

You may have shouted this out sometimes as a child, when you reacted hurtfully to something that annoyed you. Maybe your reactions got you into trouble with your parents.

Is it so different today with us adults? All the time we hear hurtful and self-justifying words said in our homes, in public, and online. There have also been hurtful and self-justifying words hurled back in response to those words. And sometimes, it isn't just words that get thrown back. Sometimes, people get hurt - or die.

There is a better way.

Our church invites you to the first of a series of free peace-making workshops, on Saturday morning, September 29th, in the Cook Room at the Meriden Public Library, starting at 9AM. A signup form is below - the workshop is free.

The morning workshop will cover breakthrough insights into how people of all kinds, in all situations, can learn to "wage peace" - even in the middle of our "wars!" The workshop is based on non-religious materials that have helped thousands of people around the world to take a new perspective on how they view and manage potentially hurtful conflicts. After the morning workshop, the workshop leader will be available in the Cook Room to help workshop attendees practice peace-making skill for their real-life situations

The core of the workshop is based on the book The Anatomy of Peace, by the Arbinger Institute, a non-religious research and training company that helps people to live more productive and peaceful lives.The key concept of the book is that if we have "hearts at war," often our peacemaking efforts will fail - and our "wars" will continue. If we learn to have hearts that are peace, then we can learn to have good relationships - and, perhaps, even love - even with people who we treat as our enemies.

Coffee and light refreshments will be available. For more information, please contact Pastor John Blossom of South Meriden Trinity United Methodist Church at pastor@smtrinity.org or 203.293.8511 tel/txt.

.While we are sorry that Sarah Bourdon is moving on to a new full-time position in a local school system, it is with great pleasure that we are welcoming in her replacement today. William A. Mariano comes to us as the current Office Administrator at Cheshire United Methodist Church, and is now our new part-time Office Administrator. William has several years of experience in church office administration, as well as an enthusiasm for faith and growing churches that is a wonderful match for our own growing church.

William will be receiving training from Sarah and Mary Barker in the weeks ahead on the deeper "ins and outs" of our operations, but already he has gone through his initial orientation, and begins this first day in the office today, ready to "hit the ground running!" His regular office hours will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 1.30PM-4.30PM.

Please welcome William warmly in the days and weeks ahead, and please wish Sarah and her family our very best as she transitions into her new role. We have been blessed, coming and going!